“Softening of Evil Hearts” (“Simeon’s Prophecy”) is a popular image from the Greek Orthodox iconography of the Virgin Mary. The icon depicts a bust-length portraiture of the Virgin Mary with Her head bowed to the left, Her arms raised at chest level, and Her palms turned toward the viewer. She is dressed in a blue chiton and a cherry-colored mantle (“maphorion”) (bright red on the underside), decorated with stars on the veil and shoulders. Above Her head is a halo with a thin red outline. In an icon of this type, the Virgin Mary is usually depicted with seven swords thrust into Her heart. In the Holy Scripture, the number “seven” generally symbolizes completeness, excess, and in this case — the completeness and vastness of grief, sorrow, and “sickness of heart”, which the Mother of God experienced during Her earthly life. Sometimes, the Divine Child is also depicted sitting in the lap of the Virgin Mary.

“Softening of Evil Hearts”, or “Simeon’s Prophecy”, is an icon that symbolically depicts the prophecy of St. Simeon the God-Receiver, spoken by him in the Jerusalem Temple on the day of the Presentation of the Lord,

“Just as Christ will be pierced with nails and a spear, the soul of the Blessed Virgin will be struck with a ‘weapon’ of sorrow and heartache, when She sees the suffering of Her Son; afterward the hidden thoughts of people will be revealed, who will have to make a choice: to be with Christ or against Him, ” this interpretation of Simeon’s prophecy became the subject of a number of “symbolic” icons of the Virgin Mary.

The history of the origin of the icon of the Mother of God titled “Softening of Evil Hearts” is associated with many legends. What is reliably known about it is close to nothing: we know neither the time and place of creation of the original image nor the name of the painter. According to one version, this image was first painted somewhere in the southwest of the Russian Empire. According to another version, the icon dates back to Catholic images of the Middle Ages. From ancient times, people prayed to this icon for healing from cholera, lameness, and paralysis, for the pacification of warring people, and for the softening of evil hearts, at times of enmity or persecution.